The 2016 season finished at Fresno's Woodward Park for the 10th straight season for Dons in the California Community College State Championships. Both teams improved greatly on their places from last season. The women finished in 17th place out of the 28 that qualified and the men finished in 22nd place out of 28.

Northern California Championships

The teams traveled to Sierra College to run the Northern California Championships on their campus. Both teams performed extremely well. The women finished second overall as a team beating conference rival Hartnell by 3 points for the first time this season. They also beat state ranked Sacramento City College who ended up finishing 5th. This is the first trophy the team earned since 2012 at the Championships. The team was led by Michele Perez-Lopez who finished 5th place overall out of the 100 runners to earn 1st team regional honors. Aly Renteria finished in 11th place place for 2nd team honors. The freshman stepped up at the right time to have a great finish as Priscilla Cadena ran a season best to finish 22nd ahead of teammate Daniela Camacho in 29th. Another trio of Freshman who stepped up were Priya Kadakia 47th, April Williams 52nd and Zoe Blankenship 66th to seal the second place trophy for the Dons with all 7 women running a season best or lifetime best time. The men also had a great race as Sophomore Juan Pablo Magana finished in 6th place overall for the Dons, which is the highest finish by a male for De Anza in over 35 years looking back thru history so far. Ralph Balaoing was not far behind in 12th place to capture 2nd team regional honors to go with Magana's 1st team honors. The men overall finished in 4th place as a team, again the highest finish for the men as a team at the regional championships looking back since the 1970's. Balaoing has the 3rd highest finish for a male in that time period as well. The rest of the team consisted of: Freshman Senai Gebrehiwet 19th place, Sophomore Ahmed Omer 40th, Freshman Ivan Godinez 50th, Sophomore Jose Hernandez-Roman 64th and Freshman Osvaldo Miranda 73rd in the 117 runner race. Both team continued the streak for De Anza qualifying for the state meet for the 10th year in a row. The state championships will be held at Woodward Park in Fresno, CA Nov. 19th starting at 10 AM.

Coast Conference Championships

The Dons competed in the Coast Conference Championships at Crystal Springs Race Course in Belmont, CA. The women came up short as a team finishing second to conference rival Hartnell by 10 points. Three women earned 1st Team All-Conference Honors as sophomores Michele Perez-Lopez, Aly Renteria and Daniela Camacho finished 3rd, 4th and 6th respectively. Freshman Priscilla Cadena finished 11th to earn 2nd Team All-Conference. The men finished in 3rd behind two state ranked teams of Hartnell the champion and Las Positas trailing only Las Positas by 6 points. The men had Juan Pablo Magana finish in 3rd place overall on the 4.2 mile course with a very fast 21:59 thru the hills. Ralph Balaoing and Senai Gebrehiwet finished in 10th and 13th place overall to earn 2nd Team All-Conference Honors. The teams will move on next week to Sierra College in Rocklin to compete at the Northern California Championships.

Bronco Invitational

For the final regular season meet of the year. The Dons made a short drive to the Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale hosted by Santa Clara University. The meet presented some new challenges for the Dons. First both races were going to be significantly longer races than they had run all year. The women did a 6K, one thousand meters longer than their normal racing distance and the men did an extra mile from normal completing a 5 mile course this week. The second challenge was competing againstnew competition. Most of the runners in the Open Division Races the Dons competed in were from 4-Year Colleges and Universities, with only a few community colleges in attendance. The third and most important challenge for the Dons was to bounce back after last weeks race to show a lot of improvement and effort before the Coast Conference Championships. All three challenges were met for the most part. Most of the men and women at the splits of where they normally would have stopped hit season bests. Most of the team preformed better than they did a year ago as a team in the same meet. And we scored better against the new competition than we have before. Juan Pablo Magana ran a fantastic race finishing in 14th place overall in the 203 runner competition. He was the 3 runner that actually was competing for a college across the line in the race and the top junior college runner beating some people for the first time in his career. For the Women, Michele Perez-Lopez was first across the line in 31st place overall and was also the top junior college runner in the race ahead of Aly Renteria and Daniela Camacho, who were the next two fastest junior college runners. The teams will now take next week off to prepare for the Coast Conference Championships on Oct. 28th at Crystal Springs Race Course in Belmont, CA. First race will begin at 3:00 PM.

Hartnell Invitational

The Men's and Women's Teams normally would have been traveling to Toro Park in Salinas this week for the Toro Park Invitational to get ready for the conference championships. However, due to the large fires in the area. Toro Park has been closed for Fire Camps since July. So Hartnell moved the meet to San Lorenzo County Park in King City. The drive was an hour farther and the team having a week off looked rusty. Both squads managed to finish in second place in the 10 team meet but the times and performances looked off. Aly Renteria was the number one for the ladies finishing in 8th with a medal and Ralph Balaoing also finished in 8th to lead the men.

Lou Vasquez

The teams had their last meet before starting classes next week at Golden Gate Park on Thursday in the annual Lou Vasquez Invitational. The Women finished in 3rd Place out of the 16 teams. Michele Perez-Lopez was dealing with an ankle injury suffered a few hours before the race but still managed 5th place, also taking a wrong turn at the finish that cost her a few seconds and momentum. Alyssa Renteria was next in 14th place earning a t-shirt as a reward. Daniela Camacho had her best race of the season finishing 3rd for the team a few seconds ahead of Priscilla Cadena as they were in 23rd and 26th place overall. April Williams continued her weekly improvement with a lifetime best time finishing in 42nd place of the 84 runners in the race. Priya Kadakia and Madison Dewing rounded out the scoring team for the Dons in 49th and 55th place. For the men, Juan Pablo Magana finished in 13th place to lead the Dons to a 5th place finish as a team. Ralph Balaoing and Senai Gebrehiwet were in 26th and 29th place both running lifetime best times. Fourth across the line was Ahmed Omer also running a lifetime best to finish in 63rd place. Ivan Godinez finished at the head of 3 runners to rounded out the top 7 in 85th place just ahead of Jose Hernandez-Roman (87th) and Osvaldo Miranda (90th). Miranda actually broke his arm in a fall during the first mile of the race but finished with his best time of the season, before going to the hospital and finding out he broke his wrist in two places. The Dons will be off 2 weeks until traveling to the Hartnell Invitational.

Pat Ryan Invitational

After 3 races against some of the top teams in the state. The Dons had a flat course against local competition. With only 10 teams at the race, the women came away with their first Team Championship of the season outdistancing second place American River by 17 points. The Dons were led by Michele Perez-Lopez who was the individual meet champion. Aly Renteria finished in 5th overall place and was followed closely by Priscilla Cadena who came in 7th out of the 47 runner to finish the race. Daniela Camacho was 16th and April Williams stepped up with a strong 20th place finish as the Dons normal number 5 runner was resting an injured foot. The Men were led by Juan Pablo Magana who was the runner-up in the meet running a lifetime best 4 mile with a time of 21:37. Ralph Balaoing was 5th place overall 2 spots ahead of Senai Gebrehiwet in 7th place. Ivan Godinez was the 4th runner and Ahmed Omer rounded out the scoring team in 20th and 26th place overall in the 73 runner race. The Dons have a short week as they will compete in Golden Gate Park on Thursday in the Lou Vasquez Invite at 3:30 PM.

Fresno Invitational

The Fresno Invitational annually serves as the early state preview meet, as it is run on the same course as the State Championships and many of the top teams from Northern and Southern California come to this meet. The women's team finished 10th overall in the team standings and was the 4th fastest team from Northern California. The times for the ladies were overall faster and they scored way better than they did the previous year. The team was led by Michele Perez-Lopez. The Men finished 2 places higher than they did a year ago as Juan Pablo Magana led the Dons to a 9th place finish.

NorCal Preview

The Dons woke up really early to travel to Sierra College in Rocklin, CA northwest of Sacramento to compete in the Northern California Preview Meet. Sierra College has not had a team or hosted a meet in several years and it was a good chance for the teams to see where they are early in the season and ready them for when they return in November to qualify for the state meet. Coach Mattis also dealing with a health scare was unable to practice or travel with the team for the meet and several members of the team were dealing with small injuries or a sickness going thru the team. Despite all the challenges the teams preformed quite well. The women finished 4th in the 17 team meet. Michele Perez-Lopez finished in 4th as the top finisher for the Dons followed by Aly Renteria who was in 13th place earning t-shirts for their efforts. Freshman Priscilla Cadena was next across for the Dons in 27th and Daniela Camacho and Priya Kadakia finished in 39th and 40th out of the 89 runners to complete the scoring team. For the men, they finished in 5th place with another strong showing from the top 3 men again. Juan Pablo Magana finished in 9th overall to get a t-shirt himself. Ralph Balaoing was 17th and Senai Gebrehiwet in 29th in the 138 runner field. Ivan Godinez and Jose Hernandez-Roman were 85th and 89th places to round out the top 5 for the Dons. The Dons will travel to Fresno this week on Saturday for the State Preview meet for another early season tough meet.

2016 Oxnard Invitational

The 2016 Season is underway for the Dons as they traveled a little over 5 hours south along the coast to compete in the Oxnard Invitational. This meet featured some of the best individuals and teams in the state. Both the Men and the Women came away with 5th place finishes in the 11 team meet. Sophomores led the way for the Dons on both sides. Michele Perez-Lopez ran a lifetime best cross country time to lead the women with a 19:48 to come in 13th overall. Aly Renteria was next across the line with a 21st place finish. Newcomer Priscilla Cadena was 3rd across the line in 31st place in her first college meet. Sophomore Daniela Camacho ran over 2 minutes faster than she did a year ago in her first meet to be the 4th Don across the line in 42nd. The last scoring member for the Dons was Freshman Priya Kadakia finishing in 55th place out of the 82 competitors in the race. Defending state champions Glendale won the team title. For the men, Sophomores Juan Pablo Magana and Ralph Balaoing finished in 12th and 14th overall out of the 99 competitors to lead the Dons. Freshman Senai Gebrihewet was only 14 seconds behind them to be the 3rd Don across the line in 21st place. A trio of Dons came across the line very close together to be the next 3 on the team as Ivan Godinez, Jose Hernandez Roman, and Osvaldo Miranda finished in 60, 61 and 63rd places. The Dons will travel to Sierra College next Friday to run in the NorCal Preview starting at 9:30 AM.

2015 Season Recap

The 2015 Season wrapped up with both the Men's and Women's Teams qualifying for the State Championships for the 9th straight season. The Women finished 2nd in the Coast Conference and the Men finished 3rd. Brandie Rodriguez and Aly Renteria both earned All-Conference Honors as did Juan Pablo Magana for the men.

2014 Season Recap

The 2014 season ended with both Men's and Women's Teams qualifying for their 8th straight year. Both the men and women finished in second place in the Coast Conference Championships. The Women's team also were champions of the Beat the Heat Invitational held at the College of the Redwoods.

2013 Season Recap

The 2013 Men's and Women's Teams had another season capped off by a 7th straight trip to the state meet. The Women's Team finished as conference runner ups and had 5 All-Conference Runners and 1 All Regional runner. The Men's team finished 3rd in the conference and had 3 All-Conference Runners.

2012 Season Recap

The 2012 Women's Cross Country season was one of the best in De Anza History. The women finished their season in 4th place in the state. They also won their second consecutive Northern California and Coast Conference Championships. The team was led by Sophomore transfer Katie Castro who won 9 out of 10 races she competed in and became De Anza's first individual cross country state champion in school history. The women had 8 All-Conference athletes and 3 All-Northern California Champions. The women also won the Ventura Invitational, Crystal Springs Invitational, Pat Ryan Invitational, and Toro Park Invitational during the season as well. The Men finished with 2 All-Conference athletes and finished 3rd as a team in the conference. The men also qualified for the state meet for the 6th straight season. The men finished 20th place at the state meet. The men also won the Pat Ryan Invitational in Santa Rosa as a team.

De Anza's 2008 Men's Cross Country Team was named to the All-State Academic Teams recently recognized for their outstanding performance in the classroom and success in competition. The team was one of three teams to be named an All-State Academic team from De Anza for the 2008-2009 seasons.

2007 season team highlights

Second place finishes for the Men and Women's teams in the the Gary Shaw Invitational.

Second place finish for the Women's team in the Toro Park Invitational

Winning the Co-Ed title at the Ekiden Relay in Sacramento

Third Place (Women) and Fourth Place (Men) at the Coast Conference Championship

Both Men and Women's Cross Country Teams qualify for the California Community College State Meet

Individually Cynthia Chaidez received All-State Honors with her 12th place finish at the State Championships. Other top performances were Angie Sandoval, Lauren Rosiles and Chaidez receiving All-Conference Awards for the Women. For the Men, Trevor Addison was named to the All-Conference Team